Islet transplantation and regeneration for treatment of diabetes

Islet transplantation has the potential to restore normoglycemia and prevent the development of diabetic complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy, and could therefore ve a valuable treatment for diabetic patients. The scarcity of available islets is an obstacle for clinically successful islet transplantation. To resolve the problems, we have examined the two methods, islet transplantation with extracellular matrix(1) and in vivo expansion of islets with electrically-transfection of growth factors.